Iridium, a rare metal brought to Earth by asteroids, has been found to be an effective cancer-killer(Credit: Shad.off/Depositphotos)

Over 65 million years ago, an asteroid some 10 km (6 mi) wide crashed into the Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. Strangely, the legacy of this huge space rock could include a treatment for cancer after scientists from the UK and China demonstrated that iridium – a rare metal delivered to Earth by the asteroid – can be enlisted to kill cancer without harming healthy cells. read more

A 3D-printed device, loaded with neuronal stem cells, that can be implanted into an injured spinal cord to help “bridge” the damage(Credit: University of Minnesota)

Spinal injuries can be like downed power lines – even if everything on either side of the injury is perfectly functional, the break can effectively shut down the whole system. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota have designed a device that could link everything back together again. A silicone guide, covered in 3D-printed neuronal stem cells, can be implanted into the injury site, where it grows new connections between remaining nerves to let patients regain some motor control. read more

A chance meeting may lead to a combination therapy that actually reduces side effect damage while improving effectiveness of chemotherapy in the treatment of lung cancer(Credit: muratart/Depositphotos)

Cancer treatment is often a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. You may well have some success with chemotherapy, but subsequent damage to otherwise healthy organs and tissue is a trade-off that clinicians and patients have had to juggle with for decades. But, thanks to a chance meeting at the Hudson Institute in Melbourne, lung cancer patients could be looking at more effective chemo with fewer side effects. read more

Researchers have found that removing a single gene from a gut bacteria species can have dramatic effects in the host’s metabolism(Credit: AnatomyInsider/Depositphotos)

The bacteria that call your gut home can have a tremendous impact on your overall health, but exactly how the bugs do so is a web that’s still being untangled. To investigate, researchers at Harvard Medical School have deleted a single gene from one gut bacteria species and found that it alters the metabolism of the host, reducing their weight gain. read more

A new cancer drug known as cancer drug has moved through phase I human trials, and the results are promising. Taken orally, the drug targets what are known as RET-driven cancers, including types of thyroid and lung cancers, which are normally hard to treat. read more

from the American Spectator:

The Cost of Providing Health Care to Illegal Aliens

The total is obviously enough to pay for a border wall.

The most objective piece of writing on illegal immigration to emerge from the legacy media last week appeared under the title, “If We Want to End the Border Crisis, It’s Time to Give Trump His Wall.” It was penned by Andrew Sullivan, of all people, yet he admitted something few progressives have really accepted: “He won the election. He is owed this.” Sullivan’s regular readers will reflexively disagree, but his reasoning is irrefutable. So, most will have to revert to the “prohibitive cost” canard. In reality, the wall will easily pay for itself in savings to our health care system. read more

Strong and light, spider silk is one of the most impressive materials in the natural world. Both the real thing and synthetic versions have been used to improve everything from clothing to car seats, cooling electronics to preserving produce, making sweet music or helping people hear it, and even patching up severed nerves. Now, scientists in Germany and Switzerland have found a new use for spider silk – wrapping up cancer drugs to protect them until they can reach their tumorous targets. read more

Researchers at Penn State have developed an antibiotic that targets a specific species of bad bacteria, without harming the good ones in your gut(Credit: phodopus/Depositphotos)

Antibiotics are effective at killing bacteria (for now, at least), but they aren’t very picky, indiscriminately wiping out both good and bad bacteria. This can upset the fragile balance of your microbiome, which is increasingly being linked to general health and wellbeing. Now, researchers at Penn State have developed a new approach to make a drug that can single out a specific, opportunistic bacteria known as C. difficile. read more

An artist’s rendition of MIT’s new nanoparticles, which can carry two forms of drug to combat brain cancer(Credit: Stephen Morton)

Glioblastoma is one of the most deadly forms of cancer. Affecting the brain, those unlucky enough to receive a diagnosis don’t have many treatment options – and usually a median life expectancy of just over a year. Now, researchers at MIT have developed nanoparticles that could provide hope, crossing the blood-brain barrier and delivering two types of drugs to fight tumors. read more